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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100329">Sucker's Luck</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/belladeum/pseuds/belladeum'>belladeum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>D.Gray-man, Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood &amp; Manga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action, Allen has an Ed Elric situation going on, Alternate Universe - Fullmetal Alchemist 2003/Brotherhood Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Drama, Gen or Pre-Slash, Lavi has a Lingreed situation going on, M/M, Oh No They've Caught Feelings!, Writing fight scenes is hard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:55:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,329</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100329</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/belladeum/pseuds/belladeum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a really damn stupid twist of fate that revealed Lavi's true being to Allen. That damn chimaera and his damn flimsy eyepatch. He should've seen it coming. He had the worst luck. And now came the hard reality: Allen wasn't allowed to know he was a Homunculus and stay alive. He didn't want to fight Allen but in the end, Lavi didn't have a say in the matter.<br/></p>
<hr/>
<p>A DGM/FMA fusion adaptation of the Lavi + Allen fight in Noah's Ark. Rewrite - originally done in 2018.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lavi &amp; Allen Walker, Lavi/Allen Walker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sucker's Luck</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/the49thname/gifts">the49thname</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Re the Violence Archive Warning, it's mostly in the form of your typical FMA/DGM action fights, but there is also some mild gore/body horror? Essentially, spooky chimaeras get chopped up n stabbed and Lavi and Allen also get hurt because they're fighting you know the drill.</p>
<p>Hap Birth, Ro!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This fight was going to hell.</p>
<p>It couldn’t get much worse, Lavi thought, as he leapt high – higher than he probably should have, but with Allen mercifully distracted it was a lucky escape – and out of reach of the stalagmites erupting from the earth. The shards of rock were comfortably out of reach as he arched backwards and scanned the broken ground for his enemy. There, crouched low and clawing at the ground was the alchemist distorting the terrain and giving them both a hard time. As if the fucking chimaeras weren’t bad enough. He heard a pained yowl from beneath him, and looked down to it, his body instinctively going through the motions of throwing out the long chain of his weapon, the hammer-hook lodging into something and mechanism locking into place to swing him round. He had no idea what he’d even aimed at, but it didn’t matter, his body knew what to do.</p>
<p>Allen was at the source of the cry. He was flailing out, trying his best to keep his cool as the headless abomination flopped on the ground repeatedly, trying to get onto its feet, short back legs kicking out uselessly and blood oozing from the gaping hole of its neck. Clearly it hadn’t taken well to Allen decapitating it, but it wasn’t letting something as little as that stop its bloodlust. The head was several feet away, tongue lolling and a bubble of black ichor forming and popping from its nostril. Another beast was growling, its hound-like head all black fur and teeth and blazing eyes stuck squarely on the body of some kind of monkey. It was top-heavy and clumsy, but Allen looked worn-out, and his dodge was only just enough when the beast leapt towards him. Lavi had never seen chimaeras like this. It was all kinds of fucked up. Some part of him wanted to laugh. As if he was one to talk.</p>
<p>He jolted, his breath coming out a little short and his body thudded down. He sprung to his feet in a daze. Paying too much attention to Allen rather than where he was meant to be landing. He clicked the button at the bottom of his weapon’s handle to disengage to hooked claw. Turns out he’d hooked himself round a tree. The head of his weapon fell to the ground with a dull <em>thunk</em>, the long chain attaching it to the handle spooling at his feet and now rapidly coiling back into the hollow space inside the hammer. It really was a wonderful toy. He brushed off his knees casually.</p>
<p>He did... sort of.</p>
<p>He shook his head. Okay, fine, paying attention now. He could handle a fight just as well as Allen could. No more distractions.</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Don’t go breaking bones.</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Yeah, as if he could.</p>
<p>Allen had been taking the brunt of the fight alone and his weariness was showing. His breath was haggard and sweat dripped down his face. The monkey-hound was scrambling around like a mad thing, and Lavi wondered if the body was disagreeing with the head, or if the head was having trouble controlling such an unfamiliar body. Talk about shitty alchemy. Then again, perhaps that was a price of making these things... resistant to dying. Who ever heard of actual <em>zombies</em> anyway?</p>
<p>“Allen!” Lavi called out as the headless corpse charged its way forward, heading to Allen.</p>
<p>“Got it!” Allen swivelled and stuck the transmuted blade of his automail arm clean through the body, and, grunting, swung it over his head where it collided with the monkey-hound mid-air. The beast shrieked in anger, and both humans had time to smile before they were on the move again, the ground opening like a fissure and warping into smooth rolling waves.</p>
<p>“You deal with the alchemist, I’ve got this.”</p>
<p>Allen nodded in understanding, flashing Lavi a grim smile before bounding off, his blade slick with the thick black blood of the chimaeras he’d dispatched. His arm shifted quickly, and he put it to the ground, pushing off of it in a flip as rocks spiralled up into a neat little line through the air which Allen sprinted across like it was no feat at all. Why’d he have to be so cool?</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Show off.</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Lavi put his focus back into the remaining beast. He doubted that he’d have any more to deal with; the headless body was lying still, couldn’t figure out what sort of creature it was – feline? hyena? four strong legs and furry – and its head was too; the monkey-hound was growling fiercely and appraising Lavi from a distance, its eyes burning; and remnants of the three other beasts they’d been fighting were scattered about, one still writhing under his foot. Lavi grimaced and crushed it flat.</p>
<p>“Come on,” he urged, baiting the creature. He wasn’t one for fighting much, but there was an odd <em>thrill</em> to it. Perhaps he just enjoyed fighting alongside Allen. The relieved laughter they shared after a tough fight was a good feeling.</p>
<p>The chimaera dashed at him, hurling shard of rock and dirt towards his face. Lavi put up an arm to block them, and they bounced off his skin like nothing. He barely registered the contact. He flung the beast backwards.</p>
<p>Wait.</p>
<p><i>Can’t risk that</i>, he thought, staring at the receding tessellations of his bare arm.</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>He’s not looking.</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Was he? Lavi turned quickly to look: Allen was busy locked in some dance with the other alchemist, a scrawny bespectacled man who was the definition of “mad scientist”, and not looking his way. Even if he was, Lavi doubted he’d be paying any attention to him.</p>
<p>Lavi turned back and was blinded with pain as sharp claws raked across his face. He felt his skin split and he cursed loudly. Can’t a guy catch a break for two fucking seconds? Lavi shouted and reached up to bat the thing away, only to feel it move atop his hair, clinging and pulling at his hair. Fine. If that was how it was gonna be...</p>
<p>Lavi felt the surge and crackle of static knitting together the wounds slicing across his face. He smirked as the monkey-hound screeched and kicked on his head, trying to claw against his hardened skin with no avail. The beast screeched agin, frustration compounded with pain as the hair it was clinging to became sharp, jagged and brittle, snapping off as it wrenched away, leaving the beast helpless. He swung round and punched it down to the ground. The chimaera turned quickly onto its feet, teeth bared and hackles raised. It didn’t matter, he’d already shot a hand out to it and brought his hammer down onto its skull with a final, sickening crack. The thing shuddered and twitched at his feet, then fell still. It wouldn’t bother him for a while now, even if it did manage to get back up. He stretched his arms out with relief and, hearing no further sounds of fighting, jogged over to Allen.</p>
<p>“Yo!”</p>
<p>Allen was panting, tired but still standing, with the rogue alchemist unconscious and bruised on the floor. The small alchemy circle he’d carved into the ground had been scrubbed clean.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Allen replied. He straightened up and looked at Lavi, his smile dropping.</p>
<p>“Well, looks like we’ll be babysitting until backup gets here. Nice work, ‘sprout,” Lavi said, nudging the unconscious body with his boot. He smiled cheerfully at Allen.</p>
<p>Allen just stared back at him. His expression was one of confusion, of shock.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Lavi – your eye.”</p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p>Lavi’s smile fell a little, but he kept it up. What was Allen talking about?</p>
<p>Some part of him already knew, but he couldn’t give in to that. He couldn’t let his control slip. He could talk this way out of this. It was, in fact, one of his many charming qualities: his endless capacity to smooth-talk his way into and subsequently out of trouble. Dread settled in his gut.</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Well, you know how this goes.</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>That damn monkey had torn his eyepatch off.</p>
<p>His body jerked and then Lavi was falling back into himself, into a strange shifting landscape of red fire and blood and ink, a burning inferno of souls with him alone in the eye of the storm. Lavi floundered for a second in the shallow water below, unaccustomed to having control ripped away so suddenly, but Greed didn’t waste any time. He swung and extended his hammer up, meaning to clock Allen in the jaw, but the kid jumped backwards. He lunged again, this time with his fists as the hammer retracted, and Allen parried with his automail arm, his movments swift and almost automatic. Well that saved him a broken wrist, but it wouldn’t take much to break the thing. He and Greed and the body they shared wasn’t nearly as tired, and unlike the kid, who was rattling away with shocked questions, Greed didn’t care about holding back. And all Lavi could do was sit back and watch.</p>
<p>“Lavi! Lavi, stop!”</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>How fucking annoying.</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>“I don’t understand! Just wait a sec, please. Just talk to me!”</p>
<p><em>Please</em>, Lavi said, speaking to the homunculus. <em>Please leave him alone.</em></p>
<p>“Lavi.” Allen panted, running parallel to his body and was putting distance between them with each lunge and kick thrown his way. “Why didn’t you tell me?”</p>
<p>“Sorry kid,” Greed growled in Lavi’s voice. More of an apology to Lavi than to Allen. “You know way too much.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Give me control back. I’ll talk this out just don’t fight him!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong><em>I know he means a lot to you – but if he’s your friend then it means he’s also something </em>I<em> own. I can do what I like. Or do you want him running that happy little mouth of his to the Order? You knew the rules, kid.</em></strong>
</p>
<p>He couldn’t get a hold. The entity named Greed, the one he’d loaned his body to, was in control, and was determined, and that meant he was deadly.</p>
<p>
  <em>I won’t kill him.</em>
</p>
<p>He wouldn’t. Not that he couldn’t. Greed could.</p>
<p>
  <strong>You<em> won’t have to.</em></strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>---</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>That cold look in his eyes was like nothing Allen had ever seen. It wasn’t human. He wasn’t human.</p>
<p>Lavi was a Homunculus.</p>
<p>The same man who’d fought with him against Lust – Lust, with his smiles and charm and vicious laughter – Lavi, who’d taken so many hits and broken bones whilst Allen had lain on the ground surrounded by playing cards unable to do anything; Lavi, who had staggered to him and smiled and joked as if the pain was nothing so Allen had held back tears from the sight of it, was now leisurely blocking and dodging everything Allen threw at him. No, not Lavi.</p>
<p>He’d met Lust before that fight and they’d seemed human. They’d been friendly. Allen hadn’t had the faintest inking they could have been a Homunculus, that they were so powerful and cruel. Oh, and those comments Lust had made while Lavi fought him... they made a little more sense now. Perhaps he should have expected this. But regardless, that wouldn’t have prepared him for the stare of those familiar green eyes, now utterly alien and ruthless.</p>
<p>“Lavi,” Allen pleaded, his mind cycling through options as his body weaved out of reach of dark, metallic skin. He didn’t want to fight Lavi. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.</p>
<p>He may very well have to if he wanted to stay alive.</p>
<p>This phantom of Lavi, this <em>Homunculus</em>, was not holding back. Allen shouted out his name again, strafing to the side and crouching down. He slapped a hand flat to the ground and drew forth a spear and threw it at Lavi’s head, only to see that same metal swarm over his skin and cover his face. What <em>was</em> that? It was shining and enveloped his arms like some kind of sleek carapace. The rock cracked and fell apart and there wasn’t a scratch left on Lavi. As if the regenerative abilities he’d witnessed in Lust hadn’t been enough trouble he couldn’t even damage this Homunculus even if he wanted to!</p>
<p>“Oh for the love of—That is <em>not</em> my name, brat!” the Homunculus spat. With a blur he was gone, and Allen looked around quickly. He felt a shadow pass over him and he looked up, resetting his stance and preparing to dodge or to create some kind of shield— but not-Lavi was <em>right</em> above him, his fists clasped together and swinging down with brutal force. Allen saw black and felt bright pain as the fist collided with the side of his head, and he fell to the ground, which shook beneath him with the force of the other’s impact. His ears rang and he felt blood dribble down his ear and neck. His vision was spinning. Ow, his head... Through the haze he could see something of a scowl form on not-Lavi’s face. He should’ve just cracked his skull open with that speed and force – there was no way he could’ve missed. Lavi had to be in there, somewhere, fighting back. Allen had to believe that.</p>
<p>He groaned meekly as not-Lavi tugged him upright, holding him limp and dazed by his hair. The pull on his scalp sent bright flashes of pain throbbing in his temples.</p>
<p>“So then, what should I call you?” he bit out.</p>
<p>Not-Lavi paused then, and smiled, as if he couldn’t help it. That expression, that voice… it made his skin crawl. “The name’s Greed. You wanna write me into your will or something?”</p>
<p>“I’m sure you’d appreciate that,” Allen muttered, and Greed laughed. He hadn’t realised he’d spoken those words out loud. Allen reached up with his right hand and clung onto Greed’s wrist, trying to find a way to break free. That carapace was kind of slippery, but it wasn’t metal. He tightened his grip. The Homunculus sighed and brushed his hand away the way you might bat at an annoying pet or clingy child.</p>
<p>“Please, let me talk to Lavi.”</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>Despite the pain and the exhaustion Allen laughed softlly. He was right: Lavi was still there. He didn’t know if that meant Lust was the same then, two people in one body, or what, but it didn’t matter. He had the two things he needed to know.</p>
<p>Allen looked down at that face he knew so well and reached his hand towards it. The Homunculus shifted, his eyes darting to the slow movement and brows knitting together. A strange flicker of emotion crossed his face amongst the confusion. The skin was rapidly covered in that dark substance, a strange mask that blended into his fiery red hair, and Allen brushed his fingers against his friend’s cheek.</p>
<p>He let energy flow down to the tips of his fingers and closed his eyes.</p>
<p>Allen landed with a thump on the ground, his scalp throbbing still and the breath knocked out of him for a moment. That had taken more energy than he’d though. He could hear Greed <em>screaming</em> above him. With a quick glance up as he turned he could see the damage: half of Lavi’s face was blown away, a gaping hole, and the diamond-tough carbon exterior stripped away across what was left of his head and neck. Greed stumbled back, clutching his face and shouting. He hadn’t really expected such a reaction, but if it felt as painful as it looked, then Allen was sure Greed must be in agony. It didn’t seem to matter though, because not a moment later arcs of red lightning sprung up and around the Homunculus’ body, knitting the skin back together.</p>
<p>Greed moved his hand away from his face. He stared down at Allen, his one eye drilling into him with a burning vitriol. His reforming jaw clicked and locked into place as he spoke, and Allen exhaled a shaky breath.</p>
<p>“Alright... now I <em>really</em> have no reason to hold back.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>He had to admit, Lavi was right when he said that kid was clever. Hadn’t made State Alchemist at such a young age for nothing.</p>
<p>He shouldn’t have been so proud – ugh, <em>Pride</em> – as to assume the alchemist wouldn’t figure it out. Still, that didn’t mean he was defenceless. His eye was already reforming, and all the kid was doing was crawling away. The kid hadn’t tried anything like that when he could see his host’s face, and hey, psychological warfare was fair game, so he let his formerly impenetrable shield fall away. He just needed his fists to finish this. He’d just make it quick and easy. He wasn’t going to let some brat stand in his way. He’d been too lax with his host; all that mattered was himself and getting what he wanted, what he deserved, and Lavi was just the latest of many disguises to achieve that end. And this kid wasn’t any different to any other human, struggling blindly and pathetically for an extra few seconds for a life that was only a blink of an eye to a Homunculus. Even now the kid’s breath was heaving as he steadied himself and with a crackle of white sparks forced the ground upward to form a tall barricade around himself to buy just a few more worthless seconds. If he thought that was tall enough then he had sorely miscalculated.</p>
<p>Greed grinned and sprinted forward, the clouds of dust doing nothing to hinder him, and leapt upward. He placed a hand on the top of the wall to turn himself round, and felt a burst of pain. Shit! He looked down with astonishment, his hand raw and bloody, and saw the wall disintegrating into sand, his body vaulting over nothing and now falling.</p>
<p>The kid was hopping up to meet him, that automail blade of his swinging to catch at his leg. Feeling the metal against his skin, Greed instincteively coated it with armour – and immediately realised he’d fucked up. The kid had punched up with his other fist now and grasped onto his leg. He did the same damn thing again, and with a loud bang Greed watched as his leg was stripped down to bloody muscle. He should have seen that coming. He knew the way this kid fought.</p>
<p>He snarled, clamping down on the anxiety and cheer and pleading Lavi was rattling off inside his head. Who the fuck did this kid, either of them, think they were? Neither of them mattered! He just needed to get on with it and this wasn’t helping. Maybe he’d just discard this body after the fight—</p>
<p>The breath was knocked out of him as a collumn of stone erupted from the earth and slammed into him, knocking him back up from his fall. Greed dug his claws into it and scrambled up, running down its length and bearing down upon the alchemist. He wasn’t moving, still positioned firmly, staring at his impending demise. Oh, he wouldn’t fall for that again.</p>
<p>Greed twisted his body, looking round and spreading his legs as cables of rock reached out, winding through the air and following his movement. He punched at them, breaking them to useless pieces, and dropped to the floor with a grin. On the ground on all fours like this, he felt animalistic. At his core he only had one drive, like an instinct, fuelling his entire existence, but he was nothing like those stitched-together chimaeras. He was so much <em>more</em> than these humans and their experiments. He moved to straighten up and stand tall, ready to rain hell down upon the meaningless kid who stood in his way, and found that he couldn’t stand.</p>
<p>What?</p>
<p>He looked. His wrists were locked in stone slabs, his fingers flexing on the other side. He yanked his arm to free them, but energy sparked and it hurt like hell. Okay, fine, he’d just have to do it quickly and take the hit. The kid was just looking at him. He stepped forward and Greed pulled back, and the pillars shifted and locked him standing. Allen shifting his feet and darted forward. Greed let his armour spread over his torso – better to have it up than not, even if the kid could transmute it – ready to defend. He’d take the hit and retaliate stronger and faster than ever, and then—</p>
<p>And then Greed stilled, thrown completely off-kilter, as a warmth enveloped him. The weight of a body, so very close to his own, and not at all the sharp attack he’d been expecting was not something he was familiar with. Not like this. He had taken lovers, sure, many of them over the years, but... He didn’t feel in control here.</p>
<p>“Lavi, can’t you hear my voice?” Allen whispered. He felt the boy pull in closer, tightening the embrace. His voice was soft and weak by his ear. Was he <em>crying</em>? “I don’t want to fight you, <em>either</em> of you.”</p>
<p>What did that mean? He didn’t know the kid. Didn’t he understand that it didn’t matter to him who his host was, that none of this meant anything to him? Why did this feel so validating? Someone was acknowledging his importance, his value, their value to <em>him</em> – but that was just a given. He wanted to do something about this, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.</p>
<p>Greed felt his footing slip as his host made a push to take over, and he let him. He let himself fall back. For a moment there, as he felt Allen’s hands on his back and the way he felt Lavi’s emotions flood into him, it was like the insatiable emptiness inside of him had lessened, just a bit.</p>
<p>“You’ve got a good friend there,” he murmured aloud.</p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p>They felt Allen jerk and stiffen as their arms split the manacles conjured to still them. He didn’t move though, didn’t even make a sound when Lavi’s arms wrapped around him in turn.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Lavi said. “Yeah I can hear ya alright, ‘sprout.”</p>
<p>He felt Allen’s breath hitch and exhale with relief, and his hand curled into his black coat. Lavi shouldn’t feel this tired, but all he felt he could do right now was just stay like this with Allen supporting his weight, his arms draped around him loosely.</p>
<p>“Lavi,” Allen said, pulling away. Lavi steadied his footing. They stared at each other with their mirrored mismatching eyes. Lavi had the oddest thought that he’d have to apologise for lying about not being blind in one eye like Allen was. He’d never explicitly said so, but the eyepatch had kind of implied it. Perhaps that had made it easier for the two to get along – they had that shared experience.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” he muttered. “Y’know, for lying to you.”</p>
<p>Allen smiled, something bright, almost dazzling, but pained. He was so used to pain and disappointment. He tried to hide it, but Lavi saw through that façade.</p>
<p>“It’s... it’s fine, Lavi. I think I understand why you did.”</p>
<p>“You should know though that, like... I wasn’t trying to trick you. We’re still friends. I wasn’t faking that.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’re still friends,” Allen replied. He took Lavi’s hand. It was still armoured, but Lavi couldn’t really bring himself to drop it. He needed that protection. “I don’t know about you but I’m <em>exhausted</em>.”</p>
<p>Lavi laughed. “Yeah, you look it. I could be better but honestly I’m not human anymore so... so I’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>He let Allen lead him away from their battlefield, back over to the unconscious alchemist. That had seemed like such a big deal just a few minutes ago, fighting this guy. He stretched his arms up – letting go of Allen hurt in an unexpected way, and he hurried to grab his hand again – and sat himself down on the dusty rubble. Allen sat next to him.</p>
<p>They didn’t say anything. Lavi wasn’t sure what to say or do now. Greed was being uncharacteristically quiet inside him. He’d try unpacking that later. But Allen was here, humming absently some tune that Lavi didn’t know, and it was good. He was rubbing his thumb gently over Lavi’s knuckles. As if Lavi needed reassurance here.</p>
<p>“When we fought Lust...” Allen’s voice broke the odd silence hesitantly and trailed off. Lavi looked to him.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah?”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you protect yourself?”</p>
<p>Lavi was quiet a moment. He shrugged. “He wasn’t going t’ kill me. He was just having fun messing around beating me up. If I really was in danger, then I would’ve done what needed doing.” Lavi grimaced. Greed didn’t have to say anything: if he’d been revealed back in that fight, they would have killed the defenceless Allen without a hitch.</p>
<p>“You know each other then?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we do. He’s a dipshit.”</p>
<p>Allen huffed beside him. It felt good to speak like this, like nothing had changed. That was so far from the truth, though. This had… done something to the two of them. Something was different in some intimate and intangible way.</p>
<p>“You’re not gonna tell anyone, right?” Lavi asked.</p>
<p>Allen shook his head. “Of course I won’t.”</p>
<p>Lavi exhaled and closed his eyes. They’d have to find his eyepatch somewhere on the ground – no doubt Allen could fix it with his alchemy no problem – before backup from the Order arrived to clean up this mess but until then he could just breathe easy. He felt like a weight had come off of him that he hadn’t really fully realised he’d been carrying. He reckoned that maybe Greed felt the same way too. He could be as hard and straight-laced as he wanted, insisting this was all for his want of knowledge of all things, but deep down that thing probably had a soft spot. His old man would scold the hell out of him if he could see this mess. Still, that could wait, like all the other stressful and mundane things in his life. Right now, he was content just to sit here by Allen’s side.</p>
<p>Everything would work out alright.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No beta we die like men. I committed several writing sins in the original version of this fic so I fixed them for this lol. It's a lot less anime-y now (mostly wrt the dialogue) if that makes sense, which I think is better but YMMV. I added more to the fic and also added some cameos :3 I also tweaked the Homunculus characterisation so hopefully he's a bit more of a blend between Greed and Bookman Jr now ;;<br/>If you want to read the original it's on <a href="https://lectictinium.tumblr.com/post/171970169212">my old tumblr</a>, though if there's interest I guess I can upload it here?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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